No more smoking for prisoners
2005-07-01 08:17
Los Angeles - The trend-setting United States state of California will on Friday extend its spreading ban on smoking to prisons, where cigarettes have for decades been the traditional currency of jailbirds.
Inmates, who were once issued tobacco and matches along with their prison uniforms and toothbrushes when they entered the penal system, will now be barred from lighting up, one of relatively few pleasures in the "big house."
The crackdown on smoking behind bars comes after California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September signed a bill into law banning both inmates and staff from using tobacco products in all state prisons.
Politically-correct California, which launched the US trend to restrict smoking in public places and to clean up the air by beefing up rules on car exhaust emissions, believes the ban will help improve the health of its 163 000 inmates, saving up to $265m in health care costs.
"This ban will affect all inmates in our 33 prisons as well as the 49 000 employees who work in them," California Department of Corrections spokesperson Terry Thornton told AFP.
But officials fear that with half the state's huge prison population addicted to tobacco products, that the ban could spawn violence among frustrated prisoners as well as a huge new contraband trade.
When the eastern state of Maine banned smoking in prison in 2000, assaults quadrupled, while in the few prisons that have already individually outlawed smoking, the black-market value of tobacco-related products has soared exponentially, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prisoners in Folsom State Prison - which lies near the capital Sacramento, north of San Francisco, and which banned smoking earlier this year - can now sell a tin of rolling tobacco that used to cost $11 for as much as $200.
"We will be watching contraband trade in tobacco products very closely," Thornton said.
"Each time something is not allowed in prison there is a potential for creating a black market and we know that inmates still manage to smuggle drugs and cellular phones in, so we expect to see similar attempts made with tobacco."
Prison officials will also be on guard against violent outbursts that could erupt among grumpy prisoners, who will have to stop using tobacco "cold turkey" as both nicotine gum and patches are banned in prisons.
"We are also concerned about violence in prisons - inmates always get in fights about something and some might result from issues surrounding giving up tobacco," Thornton said.
"We will also be giving smoking cessation classes to help the inmates give up since they essentially have to stop cold turkey," she added.
California banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces more than a decade ago, the first US state to enforce strict anti-smoking rules, and the ban is being extended by some cities to embrace beaches and parks.
- AFP